St. Paul student's drawing to be on display in Columbus

St. Paul High School junior Katie Dodd didn’t have any experience working with pastel chalk before her class assignment that became what she titled “Cloudy.”

After completing her drawing, Dodd said has a better appreciation and more confidence with the medium. She still prefers using pens or pencils.

“I’m more of a simple sketcher,” said the daughter of Rita and Eric, of Huron.

Dodd’s pastel drawing has been chosen as one of the top 300 pieces of artwork across the state in the upcoming Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition. She said it was “really surprising” to be selected.

“Katie is a talented, creative and versatile artist. It’s a pleasure to work with her and she truly deserves this honor,” art teacher Christine Galati said.

When asked about being exposed to a new medium, she said it’s not unusual for artists who haven’t had an opportunity to experiment.

“You can’t really know until you try it,” Galati said.

The exhibition, which runs from April 22 through May 17, is a prestigious juried show for high school students from 15 regions. A total of more than 11,000 pieces were submitted with the top 300 being selected for the art show in the state capitol.

“This was a class assignment. This is my first pastel,” Dodd said. “I think it was pretty good for the first time.”

The second-year art student’s piece will be on display in Columbus for several weeks. The drawing has a photo-realistic quality.

“A lot of that is layering (with) different pastel colors,” Dodd said.

The junior used a photo she found on Google as a reference. At least at first.

“The shape of the clouds was really interesting,” she said.

The junior saw her drawing come together when she start using white chalk. That’s when she said she no longer had to be “thinking about it” and drawing it became more organic. It took her two to three class periods to complete it.

“At some point I stopped looking at the reference picture,” Dodd said.

Galati, her teacher, said she likes the diagonal aspect of the composition, which helps draw in the viewer’s eye.

“Katie is a really versatile artist. She excels in a lot of different art forms. I appreciate that she was willing to try something new.”

Dodd’s drawing will be on display at the James A. Rhodes State Office Tower. For more information, visit govart.org.